Odisha’s flamboyant young Grandmaster Debashis Das proved the ‘kingmaker’ in the coronation of Indian Oil’s M.R. Lalit Babu as the new National chesschampion here.

After Lalit found it increasingly difficult to hold his nerve in the final round against Swapnil Dhopade and drew in just 14 moves by repeating moves, Debashis pushed a more desperate Aravindh Chithambaram to defeat in 28 moves.

With Aravindh’s defeat, Lalit deservedly claimed honours that came with ₹2.50 lakh and an unusually-designed wooden trophy.

For the record, fourth seed Lalit finished the 13-round event with nine points, half-a-point ahead of fellow overnight leader Aravindh. The effort was worth ₹1.40 lakh to the second seed.

Top seed M. Karthikeyan, looking for a hat-trick of National titles, topped a three-way tie for the third place and received ₹1 lakh. The victorious duo of Debashis and S. L. Narayanan followed Karthikeyan.

The final day also saw former champion Abhijit Kunte sign off with a victory before Himanshu Sharma scored his first triumph.